Abstract

Since the 1970s, the average life expectancy of Koreans has been increasing. Our concerns are not simply about longevity, but also about disability-free life. lately, Sasang constitutional medicine has attracted public attention, especially with respect to the elderly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the food habits, nutrients intake, and disease distribution among the elderly, according to their Sasang constitutions. The results are as follow : The distribution of constitutions of the subjects were Tae-eum 48.8%, So-yang 27.4%, So-eum 22.6%, and So-yang + So-eum 1.2%. In both elderly men and women, body weight, percent ideal body weight, and diastolic pressure of the Tae-eum were significantly higher than those of other constitutions. In both men and women, the level of hemoglobin in the Tae-eum was significantly higher than those of other constitutions. The level of LDL-cholesterol was higher, and the level of HDL-cholesterol was lower in the So-eum elderly women. Food habits of the So-eum were the most irregular, and nutrients intake of the So-eum was lower than that of other constitutions in both elderly men and women. In elderly men, the incidence of hypertension was the highest in the Tae-eum, and the incidence of gastritis was the highest in both So-yang and So-eum. In elderly women, the incidence of fatty liver was the highest in the Tae-eum and So-yang, and gastritis and hypertension were the highest in the So-eum. In the elderly, obese and anemic persons were significantly more in the Tae-eum and the So-eum, respectively. The results of this study showed that there were significant differences of physical, characeristics, food, habits, and distributions of disease for the subjects according to each Sasang constitutions. Intake of nutrient was poor, regardless of Sasang constitutions, in both men and women.

• Keywords: Sasang constitution; elderly; food habits; nutrients intake; diseases